Norwegian Air will use 787-9s on four new U.S. routes next year. (Image: Norwegian)

Fast-growing, low-cost European carrier Norwegian just announced four more new U.S. routes coming in 2018, leading some to wonder if the ambitious airline is growing too fast for its own good.

The company’s latest plans include new service from Los Angeles to Milan Malpensa starting June 16; and from LAX to Madrid beginning July 15. It will operate four flights a week on both routes. From New York JFK, Norwegian will operate new service to Amsterdam starting May 7, with four weekly flights; and to Madrid July 18, with three flights a week. All the new routes will be served with 787-9s.

No-frills fare, high fee fares from LAX will start at $229 one-way, while New York fares will begin at $199 to Amsterdam and $229 to Madrid. Premium cabin fares start at $729 and $739 from LAX to Madrid and Milan respectively, and at $619/$649 to Amsterdam and Madrid from JFK.

These four routes are just a part of new Norwegian service already announced for 2018. Other new routes and starting dates include Oakland to Rome (February 6); Newark to Paris (February 28); Chicago to London (March 25); Austin to London (March 27); Denver to Paris (April 9); Oakland to Paris (April 10), and Boston to Paris (May 2);

Norwegian’s current and upcoming U.S. routes. (Image: Norwegian)

All that is on top of 25 U.S. routes that the carrier inaugurated in 2017. And look for more new service in the months ahead: Norwegian said it has just acquired another 28 weekly takeoff and landing slots at London Gatwick, available starting next summer. “Planning work is now underway to allocate the newly acquired slots, and will be announced at a later stage,” the company said.

This explosive growth is leading some investors in the company to worry that the airline might be overextending itself, considering its financial performance. A recent analysis in the Financial Times noted that Norwegian’s fleet is adding 32 aircraft in 2017, for a total of 145; and will keep growing to 193 planes by the end of 2019. The report said Norwegian had a second-quarter operating loss of $104 million, while its unit costs rose by 6 percent in the third quarter. The company’s share price has plunged 40 percent this year, the report said, while its European competitors’ stock has been rising sharply.

One analyst quoted in the article said Norwegian has new aircraft coming online so fast that it can’t absorb them all, so it has started leasing some to other companies and selling older ones. It also quoted a senior banker in Norway as saying that Norwegian is “in trouble. They are over-extended and it’s clear that they have to do something.”

Have you flown Norwegian…or benefitted from its impact on transatlantic fares this year? Please discuss.

New nonstops between California and Madrid coming next spring on Iberia (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

In May 2018, Spain’s Iberia will launch regular non-stop service between Madrid and San Francisco, the first ever nonstop flight between the two cities.

Oakland was the first Bay Area airport to snag nonstops to Spain last year when two airlines, Level and Norwegian kicked off nonstops to Barcelona. Both Level and Iberia are owned by IAG, the airline conglomerate that also owns British Airways.

The Iberia flights will operate only three days per week (Mon, Weds, Fri). It will use an Airbus A330-200 on the route, with business (19 seats) and economy class (269 seats) only, no premium economy or first class. Iberia says that initially, the service will only be seasonal, running May-September.

Fares for midweek trips in mid May seem high right now

While it’s now possible to buy tickets on these flights, Iberia is not offering any introductory deals as of today— fares for May trips are in the $1,400 round trip range. Typically, May is a slow month for US to Europe travel and I expect we’ll soon see sale fares dip below $1,000 for SFO-MAD roundtrips. Business class is running about $4,400 round trip.

By comparison, Oakland-Barcelona fares for next May are currently running about $531 roundtrip on Norwegian Air, plus baggage and other fees.

Emirates will begin the only year-round non-stops between the U.S. and Athens. (Image: Jim Glab)

In international route news, Emirates will introduce a new option between the U.S. and Europe; Japan Airlines adds a Haneda flight from New York; Southwest will serve an international market from San Diego; Delta drops a Taiwan route but adds new code-shares to Southeast Asia; Iberia starts selling a new premium economy class; and Qatar Airways sets a date for new Las Vegas flights.

Dubai-based Emirates is moving into a new U.S.-Europe market on March 12, when it plans to begin year-round daily service between Newark Liberty International and Athens; the flight continues to Dubai. The airline already flies between New York JFK and Dubai four times a day. Plus it flies nonstop between JFK and Milan. Emirates noted that there has been no year-round, non-stop service between the U.S. and Greece since 2012 (US carriers offer summer seasonal service only). Emirates fares for March-April flights start at $600 roundtrip. The carrier will serve the route with a 777-300ER that offers first class, business class and economy seating. Predictably, Delta, United and American said the announcement shows that Emirates is “flagrantly violating” the Open Skies agreement between the United Arab Emirates and the U.S., and said they will call on President Trump to block Emirates from the route. Will he? This should be interesting…

Japan Airlines will begin service between New York JFK and Tokyo’s close-in Haneda Airport. (Image: Haneda Airport)

Japan Airlines, which already flies twice a day between Tokyo Narita and New York JFK, said it will add a new daily non-stop between JFK and Tokyo’s close-in Haneda Airport beginning April 1. The company said the new service will give customers more connecting options to domestic flights in Japan via Haneda. The new route will use a coveted daytime international departure slot at Haneda. JAL also said it will change aircraft on its evening departure from Narita to JFK, switching from a 787-8 to a larger, four-class 777-300ER.

Southwest Airlines said it will begin its first international service from San Diego on April 25, when it launches new service to San Jose del Cabo/Los Cabos. Through January 26, Southwest is offering introductory fares on the new route starting at $104 one-way. Flights from Oakland to Cabo and Puerto Vallarta begin in February.

Delta’s route from Seattle to Tokyo Narita to Taiwan will be shortened after May 24 when the carrier reportedly plans to drop the Narita-Taiwan segment. Meanwhile, Routesonline.com reports that Delta will soon – perhaps as soon as this week – start to put its DL code onto partner KLM’s fights from Amsterdam to Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

Iberia’s new Premium Economy seating. (Image: Iberia)

Iberia, a subsidiary of British Airways’ International Airlines Group and a member of the BA-American Airlines joint venture, announced the opening of reservations for its new long-haul Premium Economy seating class. The company said the new section is going into 21 of its aircraft, including eight A330-300s and 13 A340-600s; it will also be in A350-900s to be delivered after 2018. Premium Economy will be available for travel starting in May 2017 on Iberia’s routes to Madrid from New York and Chicago, starting in August for Miami-Madrid flights, and beginning in September for Boston-Madrid service. For bookings made before January 31, roundtrip fares start at $1,299. The new seating has increased recline, 37-inch pitch, greater seat width (19 inches) than regular economy, adjustable head and foot rests, 12-inch HD video screens (vs. 9 inches in economy), international Wi-Fi, a free drink, upgraded meal service, amenities kit, and allowance for two checked bags.

Qatar Airways has set January 8, 2018 as the launch date for its planned new service between Las Vegas and Doha, Qatar. Earlier, the airline has said it would start flying to Las Vegas in 2017, although it didn’t give a specific date. Qatar Airways plans to fly the Las Vegas route four times a week, using a 777-200LR. Las Vegas will the airline’s 11th U.S. gateway.

China Eastern is using an A330 for its new San Francisco flights. (Image: Airbus)

In international route developments, Norwegian hints at Oakland-Rome nonstop; China Eastern adds San Francisco service; China’s Xiamen Airlines comes to Seattle; Delta will add new Europe routes from the East Coast next spring; Air Canada plans a very long haul from Montreal; and Aeromexico will begin a Detroit route.

Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines, a member of Delta’s SkyTeam global alliance, this week kicked off new service to San Francisco from Kunming – the capital of Yunnan Province in southwest China – via a stop in Qingdao, a port city in Shandong Province. China Eastern will use an Airbus A330 and will operate the flight three times a week, with SFO departures on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

A Xiamen Airlines 787 now flies to Seattle from Xiamen and Shenzen (Image: Boeing)

Another new China route also opened up this week: Xiamen Airlines started service to Seattle from its hometown of Xiamen, operating via a stop in Shenzen. It’s the airline’s first U.S. route (although it also flies to Vancouver) and the first non-stop service between Shenzen and the U.S. The carrier’s future plans include service from Xiamen to Los Angeles and Fuzhou-New York, officials said. Xiamen has inked a partnership pact with Alaska Airlines for easy connections at SEA. It’s also a member of the Delta-led SkyTeam Alliance. The carrier will use a 787 Dreamliner on the route, which operates on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

A new nonstop between the Bay Area and Rome? Hope so! (Photo: Pixabay)

It was really big news when Norwegian Air announced new Oakland-Barcelona and Oakland-Copenhagen nonstops starting next spring. When TravelSkills attended the announcement event at Oakland’s Jack London Square, we snagged a few minutes with Norwegian Air execs. They told us that since they’ve received such a positive reception in the Bay Area, the carrier will soon announce nonstops between Oakland and Paris…. AND that the carrier is looking to add Oakland-Rome and Oakland-Madrid, too! Stay tuned for more details.

Delta will add some new service to Europe next spring. On May 25, Delta will begin daily flights from Boston to Dublin as well as daily service from New York JFK to Lisbon. At the same time, Delta will resume daily flights between JFK and Berlin. The Dublin and Lisbon routes will use 164-seat 757-200s, while the Berlin service will be operated with a 225-seat 767-300, Delta said. Meanwhile, Delta also announced an expansion of its six-month-old code-sharing partnership with India’s Jet Airways. In addition to the existing connections at Amsterdam to Delhi and Mumbai, starting October 30 Delta flyers will also be able to connect via Paris Charles de Gaulle to Jet Airways flights to Mumbai and beyond to 20 other Indian destinations. Delta joint venture partner Air France KLM is also a party to the code-sharing deal with Jet.

Air Canada will put a 787 onto its new Montreal-Shanghai route. (Image: Air Canada)

A new route between North America and China will begin on February 16, when Air Canada is due to begin flying once a day from Montreal to Shanghai with a 787-8. It will be Air Canada’s first use of a 787 out of Montreal. Onward connections at Shanghai will be available from Star Alliance partners Air China and Shenzen Airlines, Air Canada said. The carrier plans to begin another ultra-long-haul starting July 1, with three non-stop flights a week between Toronto and Mumbai, using a 787-9. Air Canada hasn’t served that route since 1991. Also on tap for the Canadian carrier: Daily Vancouver-Taipei 787 flights beginning June 8, and three 767-300ER flights per week between Vancouver and Nagoya, Japan, starting June 1.

Aeromexico will add a new U.S. route starting January 10, when it begins flying between Detroit and Monterrey, Mexico. The carrier will use an Embraer 190 for the daily service.

United will use a 787-9 Dreamliner on its new San Francisco-Tel Aviv non-stops. (Image: United)

In international route developments, United kicks off new service from San Francisco to Israel; Qatar Airways doubles up its New York-Doha schedule; SAS and Norwegian both add new service out of Boston; Iberia comes to LAX; Chicago O’Hare gets new service to Iceland, China and Mexico; American and TAM both drop South American routes; and Air Canada revives a Salt Lake City route.

March 30 is the starting date for United’s new non-stop flights from San Francisco to Tel Aviv. United will use a 787-9 Dreamliner to fly the route three times a week, with SFO departures at 8 p.m. Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. The eastbound flight is estimated to take 14 hours and 10 minutes, with the return taking 15 hours 5 minutes. The carrier also flies to Tel Aviv from its Newark hub.

Qatar Airways, which started service earlier this month to Doha from Boston, is due to add a second daily frequency between New York JFK and Doha starting April 1. The airline will use a new Airbus A350-900-XWB for the extra flight, which departs JFK at 6 a.m. The other flight still uses a 777.

The view from my room at the Radisson Blu Royal hotel in Copenhagen (Photo: Chris McGinnis)

Boston is getting new service to a pair of European destinations. March 29 is the launch date for SAS to start flying from Boston to Copenhagen every day. The Scandinavian carrier is using a non-standard aircraft on the route – a 737-700 Boeing Business Jet operated by PrivatAir, with 20 business and 66 economy seats. The other new Boston route that started this week is Norwegian’s Boston-London Gatwick service. The low-cost airline is using a 787 to fly the route four days a week. Norwegian also announced plans to start weekly service from Las Vegas to Oslo starting in November.

Iberia, a member of American’s Oneworld alliance, begins seasonal service March 30 from Los Angeles to Madrid. Using A330s and A340s, Iberia will start off with three flights a week, increasing to five a week May 17, then six a week beginning June 6 and daily frequencies from July 3 to August 28 before it starts to scale back the schedule again.

Icelandair’s stunning Hekla Aurora 757 livery (Photo: Icelandair)

At Chicago O’Hare, Icelandair has kicked off year-round service to Reykjavik, using a 767 to fly the route four days a week (Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays), with an early-morning arrival in Iceland that permits easy connections to 20 destinations in Europe. Also at O’Hare, China Eastern Airlines has launched new non-stops to Shanghai Pudong, where it offers scores of connections to other Chinese cities. China Eastern is using a 777-300ER for the daily flights. And Mexican carrier Volaris announced plans to start service from Chicago O’Hare to Monterrey, Mexico on June 17, flying the route twice a week with an A320.

South America is losing a couple of routes to the U.S. On April 4, American Airlines plans to suspend its three-month-old New York JFK-Caracas flights “until market conditions improve.” And on June 3, Brazilian carrier TAM is due to discontinue its three to four flights a week from Orlando to Brasilia.

Air Canada plans to return to Salt Lake City International on May 27, offering daily service to its Toronto hub with a 97-seat, two-class Embraer 190.

Starting July 4, there will be two SWISS A340 flights per day at SFO (Chris McGinnis)

Last month I flew SWISS International Air Lines in business class from San Francisco to Madrid via Zurich, and returned three days later from Barcelona via Zurich to San Francisco. I was super excited to give the airline a try since it had been since Swissair days that I’d flown a Swiss airline!

My economy class roundtrip fare was $1,380, but my contacts at the airline were able to finagle last minute business class upgrades in both directions for this review.

SWISS is a member of the Star Alliance, and is a subsidiary of Lufthansa.

Here’s my report:

First off…. why “Roche coach?” Well, back in 2009 South San Francisco-based Genentech was acquired by Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche. Roche is based in Switzerland and wanted a daily nonstop to San Francisco for its executives, so it signed a guarantee with SWISS to buy a certain number of business class seats each year- enough to keep the route in the black for the airline. That had locals in San Francisco chuckling that the daily A340 flight should be dubbed the “Roche coach” due to the company’s support.

With or without the support of Roche, the flight has done very well– so much so that SWISS is doubling its daily frequencies between SFO and Zurich for the summer season. My flights in both directions were sold out.

SWISS deploys it flagship Airbus A340 on the SFO-ZRH route, which is an older, four engine jet, but its business class seat and cabin are new as of 2009. The plane has 219 seats: Eight in first class, 47 in business class, and 164 in economy. There is no premium economy section. (When SWISS gets its new Boeing 777s in 2016, the San Francisco route will likely get one.)

For those who plan to sleep or work in flight, the best seats in business and economy class are in two forward cabins that are much smaller and quieter than the larger aft sections. See seat map here. I suggest booking seats in the forward cabin for the overnight flight from the US to Switzerland, and in the larger, more convivial larger rear cabins (and ice cream cones) for the long daylight flight back.

Unfortunately, wi-fi is not available any SWISS flights yet. But I bet it will likely be on those new 777s when they come into service next year.

Seat 4K on the bulkhead row between first and business class (Chris McGinnis)

My seat on the overnight SFO-ZRH flight was 4K- a bulkhead business class seat on the right side with a good view through the curtain into the first class cabin and no seat next to me. Since I was in the forward business class cabin with just nine seats, it almost felt like flying private and was very good for sleeping on the nice flat bed seat.

A blueberry sunset over San Francisco from a SWISS A340 departing 7:30 pm (Chris McGinnis)

From SFO to Zurich, flight #39 departs very late– at 7:30pm and arrives at 4:00pm the next day. That was perfect timing for watching a lovely blueberry sunset out the window at takeoff. The summer seasonal flight #37 departs SFO at 2:30 pm and arrives at 11 a.m the next day.

SWISS uses a staggered layout in business class, similar to that used by Aer Lingus (See Aer Lingus Trip Report). This means that there are some excellent, private options for single travelers– with five “Captain Kirk” style seats on each flight: 4A, 6A, 8A (no window), 10A and 12A.

The best seats for couples traveling together are 7AB, 9AB, 11AB, and 14AB (there is no row 13 on this plane.)

The best single seats along the right side are those with a console protecting the passenger from the aisle– 5K, 7K, 9K, 11K and 14K.

The best economy class seats are on row 23, a bulkhead row that offers extensive legroom and no lavatory nearby.

Single seats with consoles on both sides are the best seats on the plane! (Chris McGinnis)

The seatback entertainment system felt a bit outdated, but offered a robust selection of good movies (Chris McGinnis)

The inflight entertainment system on this SWISS A340 felt a little dated compared to some of the newfangled offerings I’ve experienced lately. Nonetheless, the movie selection was good (Big Eyes, Still Alice, Interstellar, Birdman in May) and I really liked that nook under the screen for easy access to items needed during the flight, like my notebook, camera, phone, headset and water.

Sleep is easy in the quiet forward section in business class- just 9 seats (Chris McGinnis)

The best part about the lie-flat seats on SWISS is that when fully extended, the are very close to the cabin floor, which felt quieter, darker and more removed from the hubbub at higher cabin altitudes.

With the help of a hearty serving of spaetzle with cream and gruyere cheese, I was able to snag about five hours of pretty good sleep on this lie-flat bed somewhere between Canada and Ireland. (Stay tuned for future post about food on these flights)

Unlike many foreign carriers, SWISS kept the cabin nice and cool all night long, which helped with sleeping. There’s not much more irritating (and regrettably common) that an overheated cabin on an overnight flight. Yuck!

Economy class on on a SWISS A340 is configured 2-4-2 except at rear where fuselage narrows (Chris McGinnis)

The best economy class seats are on row 23, just behind the business class section. On SWISS, you must pay a premium to reserve these seats ahead of time. The worst seats in economy are those with inflight entertainment system boxes interfering with legroom. These boxes are in all economy class rows seats A, D and K. You’ll get the most legroom in aisle seats B and J.

I fell asleep somewhere over Canada and awoke over Ireland (Chris McGinnis)

Breakfast eggs, mushrooms, tomato and asparagus (Chris McGinnis)

After a heavy dinner I could not fathom eating breakfast, but these looked nice. There were also croissants and bircher muesli on offer for breaky. Stay tuned for a separate Trip Report about the food on my SWISS flights.

SWISS Airbus A320 that I took from Zurich to Madrid Barajas airport (Chris McGinnis)

Intra-European style business class on the short flight between Barcelona and Zurich on an Airbus A321 (Chris McGinnis)

Tarmac transfers at ZRH via Mercedes-Benz (Chris McGinnis)

SWISS provides Mercedes tarmac transfers to first class, HON Circle members and VIPs to/from flights at the open stand at Zurich Airport.

Since Zurich airport is so small and so efficient, there is very little connection time between flights, so I was unable to take a look at the SWISS lounges located there. The biggest problem for me at Zurich Airport was the unwieldy process one must submit to to access wi-fi. It requires logging on, filling out a form, then waiting for a special code to be sent to your mobile phone in order to get online. In the few short minutes I had in Zurich, I attempted this twice to no avail.

Barcelona El Prat’s big bright and gorgeous international terminal- first leg of my flight back to SFO (Chris McGinnis)

This week TravelSkills editor Chris McGinnis is in Spain and will be posting various dispatches from the trip in addition to our regular news and tips. First up: Riding Spain’s high-speed AVE train between Madrid and Barcelona.

The three-hour trip from Madrid to Barcelona begins at Madrid’s Atocha Station and ends at Barcelona-Sants station. Both are centrally located and inexpensive, plentiful cabs can connect you to meetings or hotels. (No Uber in Spain)

Madrid’s Atocha is a gorgeous, bright and airy space where older trains once arrived and departed. But since high speed trains now use an adjacent platform, the original station space has been transformed into an unusually lush tropical garden lobby. (see above) That’s a nice way to start a trip!

One-way walk up train fares are in the the $135 range for tourist class and $225 for first class. (But advance purchase round trips and discounts are all over the map, so investigate before buying.)

First class seats on Spain’s Renfe AVE trains (Chris McGinnis)

Advance purchase round trip airfares start as low as about $160, but you have to factor in the time and cost of airport transfers. Plus discounts and deals vary a lot, so investigate.

Trains depart Madrid roughly every half hour between 7:30 am and 9:00pm for the three-hour trip.

Tourist class seats on AVE trains are 4 abreast. (Chris McGinnis)

Trains are remarkably clean, quiet and comfortable in tourist or first class. There is plenty of room for luggage and lavatories in every car.

First class seats are slightly larger and three abreast, tourist class are four abreast.

Meals are served via by attendants via a trolley in first class and there’s a bar/cafe car where tourist class passengers can purchase food or drink.

The Zaragoza station is impressively modern and has a hotel (Chris McGinnis)

Our train made three quick stops along the way. The station in Zaragoza was impressively contemporary and bright and even houses a new hotel.

Spain’s rail systems is called Renfe, an acronym for Red Nacional de Ferrocarriles Espanoles, which means National Network of Spanish Locomotives.

Top speeds are in the 190 mph range and the plains of Spain looked very much like New Mexico or Arizona to me. The countryside was much drier near Madrid, but greened up substantially as we approached coastal Barcelona and Catalonia.

First class passengers get hot meals served by attendants on Spain’s AVE trains (Chris McGinnis)

Regrettably, there is no wi-fi on the these AVE trains, which is disappointing for business travelers. However, there are several channels of music, radio and a movie (Spanish only) which you can access via a headphone jack in your seat.

French TGV train on left meets up with our AVE train in Barcelona (Chris McGinnis)

When our train arrived in Barcelona, a French TGV train was on the same platform, which meant I could have jumped off the train from Madrid and taken off for Paris in a matter of minutes. Why can’t we have a system like this in the US?

Before the train departed Atocha station, I took a sneak-peek at the conductor’s cabin at the rear of the train. Very cool! Take a look at me taking a seat in the conductor’s chair on the TravelSkills Facebook page.

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Editor Chris McGinnis

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